The Woman who gave Birth to Rabbits
Life is full of mysteries unknown to man and bizarre incidents like these can always hold a person’s attention. You might have read about the youngest mother in the world was at the age of 5 or the family who had blue skin, but this one is real odd stuff.
Mary Toft, a 25-year old woman from England, managed to create a medical mystery in the 18th century when she gave birth to rabbits. Her tale is fascinating to say the least, as doctors tried to unravel the mystery behind this bizarre phenomenon.
Toft went into labour and the local surgeon reported that she delivered dead parts of rabbits and at one instance, nine baby rabbits, but they were all born dead, and were only rabbit parts. Toft gave birth to rabbits around 16 times.
The news about this shocking event spread like wild fire, and some of the greatest doctors in London at that time, in 1726, came to investigate the situation, one of the surgeons’ was sent by King George I himself. In their presence too, Toft gave birth to some more dead rabbits.
Toft said that she had a recent miscarriage but during her pregnancy she craved for rabbit meat, tried to catch them in the garden and also dreamed about rabbits. The doctors believed her and explained that such events could happen when a pregnant woman’s experiences could be imprinted directly on the fetus at conception and cause birth defects.
By this time, Toft had become popular in the country, and she always wanted to become famous. When she was brought to London and was kept under constant supervision, she stopped giving birth to rabbits. That’s when the truth began to surface.
Someone also admitted to supplying rabbits to Toft’s husband and when a famous London physician threatened to surgically examine her, Toft confessed. It was a hoax, and she gave birth to rabbits.
Toft placed several rabbit parts inside of her and allowed them to be removed as if she was giving birth, she did that in her quest for fame and popularity. She was briefly imprisoned for fraud and making a mockery of the medical profession, but escaped any harsh punishment and was later released.
Did I get you?:) Are you amused now and a bit grossed out too?
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The Girl Who Gave Birth To Rabbits
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